Minor Things
by shiiki
Summary: Sakura learns just how important the tiniest memory can be.


_**A/N**: This piece was written for **femgenficathon** on LJ. I own nothing you recognise. Love to **slam-girl** for the beta, and also for being the reason why I wrote Tsubasa fic in the first place. _

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_Minor things can become moments of great revelation when encountered for the first time. _-- Margot Fonteyn

It was just a sunset, nothing more. Just the vivid bloom of colours in the sky -- no other people, no other events except the movement of the sun over the desert dunes. Beautiful, certainly, breathtakingly so, but in the end, still only a sunset. There was nothing about this memory that was particularly important, nothing that gave her vital information about who she was and what she cared about. Sure, it was her home and the scenic landscape that she saw from the castle balcony ... but other memories, precious ones that told of her brother and Yukito-san, and the friend she'd had but still couldn't quite remember yet -- these other memories had given her as much and more.

This one was small, short, insignificant, and the princess found herself wondering, not without some resentment, why this particularly memory had been deemed major enough to consume one entire feather.

'Sakura-hime.' Syaoran-kun smiled at her, seeing her awake. 'Was it a good one this time?'

She kept her gaze low, feeling guilty. After all the trouble her friends had taken to retrieve her feathers, she should be grateful for every single one, for any memories they returned to her. Harbouring even a smidgen of the thought that it wasn't enough felt terribly selfish on her part.

'Hai,' she said softly. 'It was a sunset. It was nice.'

He waited for her to continue, to tell him more about who she'd seen it with, what she'd said, how she had felt, and when she didn't, the silence turned awkward.

Mokona saved them, hopping out of nowhere into Sakura's lap and beaming at her.

'Sakura-chan's awake!'

'Yes I am, Mokona.' She felt a little better with the little creature snuggling up against her for a hug. 'Have we moved on to the next world?'

'Yup! And ...' Mokona concentrated hard for a moment. 'Mekyo! Sakura-chan, a feather's in this world!'

'I'll find it, then,' vowed Syaoran-kun. He got his feet. 'Is it near here, Mokona?'

Mokona nodded and hopped onto Syaoran-kun's shoulder. 'I can point you.'

'Thank you, Mokona.' He turned to Sakura. 'Hime -- rest well. I'll get your feather back for you, I promise.'

'Syaoran-kun ...' Her voice faltered, as she tried in vain to articulate the mess of emotions inside her. _I want to help to. Let me go with you. What if it's as unimportant as the last one? I don't want you to risk your lives for something so tiny!_

He just smiled at her, and then he and Mokona were gone. In the other room, she heard Mokona's excited voice and a low growl from Kurogane-san, which meant that Mokona had managed to push his buttons again. Sakura sighed. They were going to go out searching again, leaving her behind to wait and worry like a good little girl.

'Sakura-chan?'

She didn't have to look up to know who it was. 'Fai-san.' She turned her head anyway, offering a smile because it wouldn't be fair not to, because that would be taking out her frustration on an innocent party. Perhaps she wasn't quite convincing, though; his eyes were a little too knowing as he came to sit next to her.

'Did you get back a bad memory, Sakura-chan? Don't be sad, it was bound to happen at some point.'

'No, nothing like that.'

'Sure? You know, I'm beginning to think that Sakura-chan never had a bad memory!'

'Well of course I have ... I mean, I must have, I just can't remember now.'

Fai-san chuckled. 'Syaoran-kun and Kuro-ri have gone out with Mokona, so what would you like to do, Sakura-chan?'

She had no idea. She didn't even know what world they were in this time.

'Where are we?'

'I'm not sure. We haven't met any people yet -- though they must exist, since _someone_ built this little shack we're in. Perhaps the three of them will meet someone while they're out.'

Sakura craned her neck, searching for a window; the room had none. 'Can we go and have a look outside?'

'I don't see why not. Are you feeling well enough to?'

Sakura nodded, getting to her feet. 'Let's go.'

The world outside was practically barren. Sand stretched out around them in every direction. Sakura could see columns of it rising up to form smooth dunes in the distance.

It felt, strangely, like home.

'Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun's world is a desert world, isn't it? Syaoran-kun looked happy too when we arrived here.'

She nodded, bending to run her palm along the sand before she realised what she was doing.

'No!' Fai-san caught her wrist, jerking it away, but not before the heat of the sand stung the tips of her fingers.

'Oh!' She stumbled back in shock, knocking into Fai-san, who caught her gracefully.

'Are you all right, Sakura-chan?'

'H-hai.' She frowned, trying to rationalise her own actions. _Why_ had she reached for the sand like that?

'Do you have any memories of playing in the sand on your home world?'

She shook her head; that wasn't one that had been retrieved yet. While she could recall the desert sand of her home country flying up around her, the exact feel of it was still lost to her.

'Body memories,' murmured Fai-san thoughtfully, and Sakura felt a surge of impatience rise inside her. She knew she'd lived in a place with sand like this; therefore she must have touched it before, which meant that she should know what it felt like. And if her body's instinct was to let it run through her fingers, then the feel of that must be something she'd enjoyed.

Couldn't she just _force_ the memory out? She pulled away from Fai-san, evading his second warning grasp to swipe determinedly at the hot sand. She managed to scoop up a palmful of it, and it pricked and stung painfully at her delicate skin, bringing involuntary tears to her eyes. It sifted through her fingers, falling back to the ground, and briefly, she thought she found the memory she was looking for, of sand sliding through the crevices of her hand. Then it was gone, and all she felt was the sting of the particles and a sudden gripping fear.

'Sakura-chan!' Fai-san grabbed her hand again, holding it out to see the damage done. She winced, both from the pain of contact, as well as the sight of her hand's raw, blistered state.

'I -- I think I should go back in,' she whispered. 'Maybe I -- should lie down.'

Fai-san didn't argue. 'Come on,' he said, and led her back into the shack.

She lay back on the bed, waiting for the black-out to overtake her, as it had the last time she had attempted to force a memory through using logic. Fai-san came in to bandage her hand, saying that he'd get the others to search for plants for a poultice that would help. Sakura simply nodded, mutely, still waiting for the inevitable.

Strangely, it never arrived.

When she finally got out of bed and wandered out to find Fai-san, it was dusk. She found the mage sitting by the open door, looking out onto the horizon.

It was sunset. The desert was bathed in a reddish-gold glow. The similarity to that last-acquired memory was not lost on Sakura. There were slight differences, though. This world had a brilliant sun, which appeared larger than any she had ever seen. The landscape, too, was differently structured.

'It's beautiful, isn't it?' said Fai-san.

'Yes,' she agreed softly. 'It's like home ... but not the same.'

Something about the comparison tugged at her mind. She thought there was a revelation in that, but before she could puzzle it out, two dark shadows came into view, trudging towards them with their arms full. A tiny round shape sat on the shoulder of the smaller figure.

'They're home!' Fai-san hopped to his feet and strode out to meet them. Sakura followed close behind. As she moved across the sand, she could feel the heat beneath the soles of her shoes.

'Sakura-chan! Fai-san!' cried Mokona upon seeing the two of them.

'Welcome back, Mokona, Syaoran-kun, Kuro-pon! Did you find the feather?'

Kurogane-san glowered at Fai-san, muttering, 'Why don't you help carry one of these bags, instead of dancing about like a drunken fairy?'

'Oh, but Kuro-rin is so strong ...' Out of the corner of his eye, he winked at Sakura as he teased Kurogane-san. She couldn't help giggling.

'Uun,' said Syaoran, shaking his head in response to Fai-san's question. 'We were getting close, but then the signal just disappeared.'

'Mokona can't sense it now,' sighed Mokona. 'It's too far away.'

'We found a village, though, and they gave us some food.'

'Well, that's a good thing,' said Fai-san cheerfully, holding the door open for Syaoran-kun and Kurogane-san to enter. 'We can cook something nice.'

'_You_ can cook, you useless mage,' grumbled Kurogane-san.

Sakura helped them to set their sacks on the ground. Relieved of their burdens, she saw suddenly that their hands were similarly bandaged.

'What happened—?'

The same question left Syaoran-kun's mouth at the same time. They stared at each other for a while, then both turned away, blushing and muttering, 'It's nothing.'

'I guess Sakura-chan wasn't the only one to come into contact with that sand today,' said Fai-san. Sakura glanced at him, but his gaze was on Kurogane-san, who was hiding his hands behind his back with a cross look on his face.

They made a fairly decent meal with the supplies Syaoran-kun and Kurogane-san had amassed, and over dinner, the two of them related what they'd learnt about this world. The hot sand was due to the nearness of the world's sun, which also accounted for the apparent size of it.

'And they say it wasn't always this way -- it seems that the orbit of the sun is slowly being pulled closer and closer to the earth by some mysterious force.'

'A mysterious force, you say?' Fai-san rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'That sounds like --'

'Sakura-hime's feather,' Syaoran-kun finished, nodding. 'It's strange, though. We were tracking the feather -- Mokona said it was close -- and then this huge sandstorm came up, and when it passed, Mokona couldn't sense the feather any more.'

'It's like on that Kudan world, kid.'

'You mean Hanshin?' Fai-san looked at Kurogane-san in surprise. Sakura frowned; she remembered little of that first world they'd visited, having been asleep for most of their stay there.

'Yeah. The white manjuu here was getting flickering signals like this too when we were searching there.'

'So the feather could be attached to something like a Kudan?'

'Not necessarily a Kudan, but something that forms and dissipates the way it does ... stop that noise, manjuu.' This last bit was directed at Mokona, who objected strenuously.

'Mokona isn't making any noise!'

There _was _a low whirring sound, though, growing louder by the second. They all fell silent, listening to it.

'Shiroi manjuu, our swords,' muttered Kurogane-san. Mokona complied readily, producing Souhi and Hien. Kurogane-san and Syaoran-kun gripped the hilts of their swords, tense and alert as the decibels inched upwards.

'Mekyo!' Mokona's eyes popped wide open. 'The feather is nearby!'

The three men ran to the door. Mokona leapt into Sakura's arms and she followed quickly. The sight that awaited them outside stunned her -- a swirling, gnashing beast was approaching their shack. Kurogane-san swore loudly, but his voice was nearly drowned out by the beast's deafening growls.

A hand grasped her wrist tightly, tugging her away from the shack, and then they were all running, her legs almost flying off the ground as Syaoran-kun practically dragged her along. Mokona was clinging on to her flapping hood for dear life.

Behind them, there was a thunderous crackle and crunch as the beast tore through their shack.

'Saints of Celes, that's a hell of a sandstorm!' Fai-san managed to yell as they ran.

Sandstorm? Possibly -- it did resemble a spiralling tornado of sand. But the energy it emanated ... the thing was _alive_, Sakura was sure of it.

'One came up on us in the afternoon, too,' grunted Kurogane-san.

'Syaoran!' cried Mokona. 'Mokona is feeling the feather from where the storm is!'

This effectively put a halt to their escape from the beast -- or storm, as the others seemed to think it was.

'You're sure?'

'Yes!'

It was all the confirmation he needed -- in a flash, Syaoran-kun was sprinting back, diving straight into the jaws of the beast. For a few, awful seconds, it looked to Sakura as if he'd been chewed up by that whirling mass of energy. And then the beast spat him out, tossing him like a ragged doll before Sakura's feet.

'Syaoran-kun!' She knelt to help him.

'I'm fine -- hime.' He took her proffered hand to pull himself up. 'Thank you.'

'Uh-oh,' said Fai-san.

The beast was hovering before them. Up close, Sakura could see that it was indeed made up of what a sandstorm would comprise of -- individual sand particles zipping haphazardly around a central core, throwing up clouds of dust that gave it a sketchy form. Its 'jaws' were in fact clumps of sharp desert pebbles swirling around. The way it paused, however, as though eyeing the group, definitely suggested sentience.

'IT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU,' it roared.

Syaoran-kun moved such that he was shielding her, his sword held defensively in front of them both. To his left, Kurogane-san stood in a similar stance. Neither gave any indication that they understood the words of the beast.

Sakura thought she knew what the sand-beast was getting at though. She stepped forward, in front of Syaoran-kun.

'Hime—'

Sakura ignored his protest. 'It's mine,' she told the sand-beast firmly. 'Mine. Please give it back.'

It seemed to consider this for a moment. 'WILL YOU TAKE IT?'

'Yes.'

There was a thunderous chortling noise. 'THEN ENTER.'

'Hime, what are you doing?' Syaoran-kun caught her arm as she moved towards the sand-beast. 'Stop!'

'I'm the only one who can get the feather,' she explained, and pried her arm away. 'It'll be all right.'

And she stepped into the storm.

It hurt at first -- the flying sand particles whipped at her face and arms, stinging almost as painfully as the hot sand in the day. The dust cloud made her cough, and she did not dare open her eyes. Sakura kept walking, against the biting wind that tore at her clothes, and slowly, its pressure decreased.

She opened her eyes a fraction. This must be the core of the sand-beast; the vortex of the storm. Shining in the centre, surrounded by a pale, translucent bubble, was a white feather. One of _her_ feathers. A memory.

'DO YOU WANT IT?' The voice of the sand-beast reverberated all around her.

'It's mine.'

'THAT DOES NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION. DO YOU WANT IT?'

'Of course -- it's my memory!'

'IT MAY NOT BE A VERY IMPORTANT ONE.'

'They're all impo...' Her voice trailed off, unable to finish her sentence as she thought shamefully of her sunset memory and how insignificant she had deemed it.

But it had been important, hadn't it? When she'd watched the sun setting with Fai-san, she'd been able to compare it to one she'd seen before and note the differences because of that memory. She'd been frustrated when she hadn't been able to recall the feeling of sand falling through her fingers, even though that had to be such a small thing.

Every memory, no matter if it was something especially dear to her heart or something that on the surface seemed unimportant, was precious.

'Yes,' she said firmly. 'Yes, I want my memory. No matter how tiny it is, it's still a part of me, and that makes it important.'

'VERY WELL THEN.' There was smugness in the tone, a tinge of approval. Sakura found her hands moving to close around the bubble holding her feather. As she did so, the swirling walls of the vortex spun faster and faster, growing thinner as it swirled, until it vanished, leaving her standing in the desert under a starry sky.

'Sakura!'

Syaoran-kun was the first to reach her, catching her shoulders roughly. 'Are you all right?'

She nodded, smiling at him, and he relaxed visibly. 'Thank goodness.'

'Ah,' said Fai-san, beaming at her. 'You got the feather.'

'Sakura-chan is so amazing!' Mokona bounced happily onto her shoulder.

'You going to put that feather back in?' This from Kurogane-san, whose surly face belied the expression of relief in his narrow eyes.

Sakura closed her eyes and let the feather sink into her chest.

Even if it turned out to be only the feel of soft sand sifting through her hands, she would welcome it.


End file.
